Croat General Turns Himself In

THE HAGUE, Netherlands: An indicted Bosnian Croat general has turned himself in to U.N. war crimes prosecutors. General Tihomir Blaskic, who was indicted for crimes against humanity in connection with the massacre of Muslims in 1993, turned himself in to the war crimes tribunal in the Netherlands on Monday. TIME's Alexandra Stiglmayer says Blaskic's surrender was orchestrated by the Croatian government only after a steady stream of Western pressure and threats to withhold loans and aid. "The situation right now is Croatia will send all indicted criminals to the Hague. The government has set them up with Croatia's best lawyer and they are trying to work out deals for them." Stiglmayer says it is unclear whether the government is helping the indicted officers out of loyalty or fear that the defendants will charge some Croatian government leaders with taking part in the crimes. While the Croatian government has begun extraditing criminals, the Serb and Bosnian governments have not cooperated with prosecutors thus far. The Serb government does not officially recognize the tribunal, but it has allowed the U.N. to set up an office in Belgrade. The Bosnian Muslim government has indicated it will cooperate with the tribunal, but has not yet done so. "Because Muslims were the main victims of war crimes, the Muslim government does everything for the tribunal when it is in their best interest," Stiglmayer says. "But when one of them is indicted they do nothing." Stiglmayer reports that two indicted Muslims are still living in their homes and going to work every day, apparently under no threat of arrest.